On August 1, 2020, a devastating car crash changed Michelle Thompson’s life forever.
“I was sitting in my Prius, with the car in park, windows down, listening to Audible while waiting for my wife, Laura, to come back with our take-out order,” recalls Michelle. In her rearview mirror, she watched in horror as a white work truck veered onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting pedestrians, before slamming into her car.
The car wreck left her with a diffuse axonal injury, a traumatic brain injury that damaged multiple areas of her brain. “But that’s just the physical impacts,” she shares. Before the wreck, Michelle thrived as an attorney and wealth manager. “I got to build relationships with my clients and participate in the largest, most impactful decisions of their lives,” she says. Losing the ability to perform a job she loved was devastating. “My life, and self, became utterly unrecognizable.”
After two years of cognitive and physical therapy, Michelle still felt directionless and disconnected. “Those were very dark days,” she remembers. A chance meeting with a Side by Side Board member on a remote island off the coast of Georgia became a turning point, leading her to the Clubhouse.
“When I came for a visit, I was blown away,” Michelle reflects. “The members and staff were so welcoming, so understanding, and seemed so incredibly happy—despite having the same or worse experience with their TBI. They knew what I was going through. They’d all been there.”
Attending weekly gave Michelle a renewed sense of belonging. “Everyone at Side by Side welcomed me, understood me, and helped me find my footing again. Immediately, I felt less isolated,” she reflects.
In 2023, Michelle joined Side by Side’s Board to advocate for fellow survivors. She also finds fulfillment on the pickleball court, competing in tournaments nationwide. Michelle’s life is becoming more recognizable as she finds joy and direction through staying active, making connections, and meaningful service.
— Michelle Thompson, Board Member